WAFL Anzac Round PreviewFriday, April 24, 2015 - 11:29 PM - by Chris Pike

THE ANZAC Round of the 2015 WAFL season sees the four fixtures split over the three days starting with one each on Saturday and Sunday, and then two mouth-watering contests on the holiday Monday.

The standalone Anzac Day clash on Saturday sees Perth take on East Perth at Lathlain Park while on Sunday it's another standalone fixture with Peel Thunder hosting Claremont at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium.

Then on Monday there is a massive pair of games scheduled on the public holiday with West Perth playing Swan Districts at Joondalup's HBF Arena and then the first Fremantle derby of 2015 sees South Fremantle play East Fremantle at Fremantle Oval.

PERTH (1-4, 8th) v EAST PERTH (2-2, 7th) – LATHLAIN PARK, SATURDAY 2.45PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – KIX Digital

Perth and East Perth play in the standalone WAFL fixture on Anzac Day at Lathlain Park with the traditional rivals doing battle with the Demons entering in winning form and the Royals coming off a loss.

Perth might have only won one game since Round 7 last year, but it just happened to be last week against Claremont and now the Demons return Lathlain Park on Anzac Day looking to continue their good form on their home turf this season.

Perth suffered heavy losses away to Swan Districts and West Perth, but put in strong showings to narrowly lose to South Fremantle and Peel already this year and now will be looking to make it consecutive wins hosting East Perth on Saturday.

East Perth came out of the bye last week to lose to Peel at Medibank Stadium by 23 points and now the minor premiers from last year and grand finalists of the last two seasons will be determined to get back on the winner's list and to commemorate Anzac Day with a strong performance.

Perth's last win over East Perth just happened to come on Anzac Day two years ago to the tune of 51 points but the Royals have won the five matches since by 18 points, 48 points, 92 points, 80 points and 22 points at an average of 52 points.

Perth is without experienced defender Chris Billings due to suspension following last week's win over Claremont, but the Demons are reasonably well-equipped to hold up in the back-line without him with David Johnston, Brent Latch, Toby Gianatti, Jared Bell and Hayden Tanner standing up well.

And East Perth is without Josh Smith, Fraser McInnes, Josh Hill, Murray Newman and Tom Lamb limiting their ability to take advantage of any lack of size or experience the Demons might have in the back-line.

Blake Borrett, Joel Kalajzic, Rowan Brookes and Kieran Hug have all put themselves in the mix to come into the Perth league side, though, with some good form in the reserves.

Kalajzic picked up 25 possessions last week against Claremont, Brookes had 21, Hug 23 and two goals, and Borrett continued his good form with 13 touches and three goals.

Borrett has joined Perth from East Perth this season and he couldn’t think of any better time to make his league debut than by doing it against his old side.

Meanwhile, Brookes is another former Royal who could come in and play his old side as will Jacob Payne who has been in terrific form in Perth's league side all of this season so far.

East Perth will lose a couple more tall players from its line-up that lost to Peel last Saturday with Fraser McInnes to make his AFL debut with West Coast on Sunday against the Brisbane Lions while Tom Lamb goes out with a knee injury.

Brant Colledge is another former Perth player on West Coast's list and as a result playing with East Perth and he looks set to remain with the Royals on Saturday despite some remarkable WAFL form.

In his last two matches, Colledge has had 36 possessions and three goals against Subiaco on Good Friday and then another 38 disposals and two goals last week against Peel.

Mark Hutchings is set to play his first league game of the season with East Perth with the 2013 grand final Simpson Medallist making his return from injury last week in the reserves with 23 disposals, eight inside 50s and a goal despite being on restricted game time.

With Smith, McInnes, Hill and Newman among those players all missing from East Perth's forward-line, Rowen Powell might get his opportunity against Perth on Saturday after having another 17 disposals, 10 marks and three goals last week in the reserves against Peel.

Dylan Main, Shayne Hille, Mitch Lague, Lewis Wilson and Brandon Hughes have all put themselves in the mix to come into the senior side on Saturday as well.

PEEL THUNDER (3-1, 2nd) v CLAREMONT (0-4, 9th) – BENDIGO BANK STADIUM, SUNDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 

Peel Thunder and Claremont enter Sunday's clash at Bendigo Bank Stadium in completely contrasting form but the Tigers are running out of time to get that elusive first win on the board in 2015 to avoid slipping too far out of the top five hunt.

Peel has now won three straight matches since losing to West Perth in Round 2 and that's just the third time in the history of the club and first time since 2009 they have strung three wins together.

Now if the Thunder are able to beat Claremont at home on Sunday they would have won four straight matches for the first time since entering the WAFL in 1997 and could very well leapfrog Subiaco to top spot on the ladder depending on the final winning margin.

Claremont will be desperate to stop that from happening, though, and to belatedly record its first win of the 2015 season.

The Tigers won their last six matches of 2014 to have every right to lay claim to be the form team of the competition by season's end despite missing out on the finals, but they are yet to win in four attempts this season.

Claremont lost to Perth last Saturday at the Claremont Showground by nine points to leave the Tigers as the last remaining team without a win this season heading into the clash with Peel in Mandurah on Sunday.

Peel might lose Tendai Mzungu due to his recall into the Fremantle AFL team for the first time this season and with Colin Sylvia out with an injury he suffered during the second quarter of last week's win over East Perth, but the Thunder could very well have an even stronger line-up.

Hayden Crozier is the man to make way in the Fremantle line-up for Mzungu's return and as a result will take his place at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Sunday in a Peel jumper.

Defender Alex Silvagni is also fit to return for the first time this season and will line up for the Thunder on Sunday with Max Duffy another Docker to come back into the Peel side against Claremont.

There are then a host of other Peel players making a strong case to the league team including Laine Wilkins, Dylan Winton, Nathan Fahey and Kieran May.

Last week in the reserves against East Perth, Wilkins had 10 possessions and a goal, Fahey 14 disposals and a goal and May 15 touches while Winton continued to impress in the colts with another 20-possession performance.

Claremont does regain one important player to its team in Corey Yeo, but has decided against recalling AFL and WAFL premiership ruckman Mark Seaby after he made his first appearance of the season last week in the reserves with 15 possessions and 23 hit outs against Perth.

Captain Jake Murphy remains sidelined for the Tigers as does Tom Swift with Beau Maister to serve the second-week of his four-match suspension.

Yeo, though, is a significant inclusion for Claremont as perhaps the best run-with player in the WAFL at the moment but he also has the rare ability to do that job effectively while also winning plenty of the ball himself.

He made his return to the reserves last week and had 26 possessions and seven tackles to show that he's ready to come back into the Tigers' league side to strengthen their midfield.

Jack Beeck, Matthew Palfrey, Alexander Manuel and Cameron Palmer also continue to press their claims to all come into the league side, with all of them yet to make their debut but there is every chance at least one of them will receive that opportunity on Sunday.

Haydn Busher is also a good chance to come back into the league side to add some height and versatility to the Tigers team particularly in the continued absence of Seaby and Maister. He has had 58 possessions the last two weeks back in the reserves.

At this stage, 17-year-old Sam Petrevski-Seton and Port Melbourne off-season recruit Toby Plant are the two players out of the Claremont team from the one that lost to Perth last Saturday.

WEST PERTH (2-2, 6th) v SWAN DISTRICTS (2-2, 5th) – HBF ARENA, MONDAY 2.15PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – 720 ABC Perth

West Perth and Swan Districts have now locked in to become traditional Anzac Day weekend rivals, generally have precious little separating and deliver some of the more fascinating WAFL battles of any season, and there's every reason to expect something similar this Monday at HBF Arena.

The Falcons and Swans clash for a third successive Anzac Day weekend this Monday at Joondalup's HBF Arena and with both teams coming off a loss, and with identical 2-2 records, it again shapes as a fascinating contest.

West Perth started the season with a disappointing loss to South Fremantle but then bounced back handing Peel its only loss of the season and then thrashing Perth before losing to Subiaco a fortnight ago despite holding the reigning premiers to a scoreless opening quarter at Medibank Stadium.

Swan Districts, meanwhile, thrashed Perth in Round 1 by 96 points before losing to East Perth by 13 and then following a bye, beating South Fremantle comprehensively despite the final margin being only 21 points.

The black-and-whites then went down to East Fremantle at home by 31 points to leave them joining West Perth on a 2-2 record entering Monday's clash to commemorate Anzac Day at HBF Arena.

West Perth and Swan Districts have played in some of the more remarkable WAFL matches over the last decade and the last two Anzac Day battles have been no different.

Back in 2013, Swan Districts turned it on in the last quarter with six goals to one led by a best on ground display from Dayle Garlett to win by 28 points in front of 2695 fans at HBF Arena.

Then last year in the Anzac Day clash at Steel Blue Oval, there was plenty of excitement around Andrew Krakouer returning to Bassendean in a West Perth jumper and he didn’t disappoint booting 3.4 from his seven kicks but it was Swans who got home by seven points in front of a crowd of 2656.

Both teams are down on their big men stocks and that looks likely to cancel each other out come Monday with West Perth missing Marcus Adams, Seva Martin, Shayne Zanetti, Jordan Jones and Max Alexander while Swan Districts will also be without Nathan Blakely and Ricky Cary.

West Perth will have had more than two weeks to think about things following the loss to Subiaco coming into the clash on Monday with Swan Districts.

However, at this stage there appears to be only one change to the team that is for certain with premiership player Steve Potente named out of the Falcons line-up.

Another premiership player Jordan Jones was given a chance to prove his fitness to return for the first time since tearing his hamstring in the Round 1 loss to South Fremantle, but he will need at least another week on the sidelines.

Two more premiership players from 2013, Ray Bartholomew and Marc Crisp, have been relegated back to the reserves since Round 1 also and have been performing solidly and could come into calculations to take on Swan Districts on Monday.

Corey Chalmers has been in tremendous form in the reserves for West Perth and had another 30 possessions and a goal two weeks ago against Subiaco to appear to be banging down the door for an appearance in the league team.

Trent Manzone is also back in the mix after consistently strong performances in the reserves and another 29 disposals a fortnight ago against the Lions while Blake Wilhelm also had another 22 touches and two goals to put himself in the mix.

Swan Districts loses full-forward Ricky Cary to suspension following last week's loss to East Fremantle and he is a significant loss having kicked 10 goals so far this season.

It also limits the chance that Swans had to really test out the Falcons' lack of tall key position players at the moment with the loss of Cary likely meaning that either Tony Notte or Joel Houghton, or both, will have to spend the majority of the game as the main forward target and not being able to spend small amounts of time down back or helping Jake Nuich in the ruck.

Dylan Nelson kicked five goals in the reserves last week for Swans from 18 possessions and six marks so looks like a likely replacement in the team in the absence of Cary.

Swan Districts did miss small defender Kirk Ugle in last week's loss to East Fremantle after he was one of his team's best in the win the week before against South Fremantle, but he is set to make his return against West Perth on Monday.

Tom Smirk, Lindsay Murray, Jacob Coniglio and Simon Donovan are the other players in the mix to come into the Swan Districts' side with Coniglio coming off 24 possessions in the reserves last week while Murray had 24 touches, eight marks and a goal, and Donovan kicked two goals as he looks to make his league debut with Swans having previously played 22 games at Perth and kicking 41 goals.

SOUTH FREMANTLE (3-2, 4th) v EAST FREMANTLE (3-2, 3rd) – FREMANTLE OVAL, MONDAY 2.40PM
Selected teams 
Broadcast – Channel 7, SportFM 91.3 (www.sportfm.com.au), Pirate FM (88FM)
 
South Fremantle and East Fremantle will take part in the seventh straight Anzac Day weekend Fremantle Derby at Fremantle Oval on Monday with plenty at stake for the winner and loser.

Both the Bulldogs and Sharks enter the clash with a 3-2 record after five rounds of the 2015 WAFL season so the difference between going either 4-2 or 3-3 come Monday evening will be stark.

Remarkably, the last eight Fremantle derbies have been won by the visiting team as well meaning that Fremantle Oval might not necessarily be the happiest of hunting grounds for the Bulldogs against the Sharks.

East Fremantle won the Foundation Derby in 2012 at Fremantle Oval by eight points and then won twice at the port in 2013 by 29 and 83 points respectively before also winning on WA Day last year by 15 points as well.

The Fremantle Derbies either on Anzac Day or on that weekend began as an annual event back in 2009 and it was South Fremantle who won on that occasion in front of 5484 fans at Fremantle Oval thanks to a last gasp snap from Toby Bairstow following a controversial out of bounds free-kick paid against Rob Young.

Then in 2010, 3335 fans attended East Fremantle Oval and watched the Sharks record a commanding 46-point victory against a Bulldogs side coming off winning the 2009 premiership.

South Fremantle hit back at Fremantle Oval in 2011 on Anzac Day in front of 4225 spectators beating East Fremantle by 29 points.

In 2012, East Fremantle had the biggest of the Anzac Day victories, this time played on Saturday, recording a thumping 85-point win in front of 2408 fans at East Fremantle Oval.

The Sharks again won in 2013 this time by 29 points in front of 3985 fans at Fremantle Oval and then last year, it was South Fremantle who prevailed by 17 points with 3421 people watching on at East Fremantle Oval despite the Sharks going on to play in the preliminary final and the Bulldogs missing finals.

Following the disappointing performance against Subiaco after quarter-time last Saturday, South Fremantle is likely to make several changes to the side with a number of players putting in below par performances.

However, at this stage the Bulldogs have named nobody out of the team to play East Fremantle on Monday in the first derby of 2015.

A host of players have been included to the extended squad named for the game, though, with Shaun Bewick, Simon Panizza, Traye Bennell, Chris Luff, Adam Carter and Jacob Dragovich all included.

South Fremantle's reserves have won their first five matches of the season and as a result a host of players are banging down the door to get a league opportunity, but Toby Bairstow, Mitch Carter, Alistair Gillespie, Ben Sokol, Nick Borovac, Lewis Harvey and Bailey Matera will have to wait at least one more week.

However, at least some of those players added to the squad will get their chance on Monday with Bewick coming off 11 possessions in the reserves last week, Panizza had 19 to go with seven tackles, Bennell 20 and two goals, Luff 13 in defence, Adam Carter 19 and Dragovich 18 to go with eight marks.

East Fremantle also is yet to name anybody out of its team from the one that beat Swan Districts so impressively last Saturday.

The Sharks expect defender Sam Read to recover in time from the concussion he suffered early in the game last week against Swans, with the nine-day break from last Saturday to this Monday to help his cause significantly.

East Fremantle's reserves lost to Swan Districts narrowly last Saturday but in that performance there were several players putting up their hands for a league recall and Jack Fletcher, Aaron Holmes, Julian Locantro and Andrew Stokes added into the squad.

Locantro had another 24 possessions and a goal in the reserves last week for the Sharks as the former Royal attempts to break through for his first league appearance for East Fremantle.

Fletcher worked hard in the ruck with 10 touches and 24 hit outs last week in the reserves with Stokes not playing, but both could come into calculations by coach Steve Malaxos for Monday's derby with South Fremantle.

Holmes is another in the mix to come into the Sharks team after picking up another 21 possessions in the reserves last Saturday against Swans.